CPA, MD + 3: Welcome to My World: South Africa: Day 1

The kids got quite an education today. We spent the morning touring two of the townships in Cape Town and learning about how the Black Africans live. The first township we visited was Langa, the oldest of the suburbs of Cape Town. Our guide for the townships was a Black African called Sugar. She told us about how the people live in the townships and showed us three types of houses found there. Many families live with multiple generations together or with other families all in one space. Those in the metal shacks have built the shacks themselves or inherited them from a family member. They do not have running water but they do have electricity. They do not pay for rent or electricity - the government provides for their utilities, including communal faucets for water and chemical toilets (aka porta-potties). Other families live in small shipping containers that were originally used as temporary housing for people whose government housing was being remodeled. They also have no plumbing and must use the communal showers and toilets. The families in the shacks and containers are all on the list for government housing. They may wait a long time for the government to build more housing - some have been on the list for 20 years. The government housing we saw consisted of maybe two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen/living room combination. They did have electricity (which was pre-paid, much like loading minutes onto a cell phone card). The rent for the government housing is about $2 a month. The kids never have their own bed, much less their own rooms - they usually share a mattress on the floor.

The people there expect the government to take care of them, including picking up their trash so there is a lot of garbage on the ground everywhere. Laundry is done by hand and hung outside to dry, so there are clotheslines with clothes hanging on them everywhere. There are very few cars and the cars you do see are usually in a state of disrepair or look like they have been abandoned and taken apart for scrap. The shacks are built out of whatever materials could be found - wood, metal, plastic, etc. and they are rarely waterproof. The "Beverly Hills" section of Langa (this is what Sugar called it) consists of a few very modest one story brick houses. This is where the doctors, teachers, and lawyers live. They cost about $50,000.

We also visited a daycare/preschool to see what some of the children do during their day. The preschool kids sang us several songs and invited our kids to play with them on their playground. This school was a private school and was primarily for parents who have jobs and can afford to pay for daycare while they work. We saw other kids hanging out in the streets and playing - James and Madeleine played a little soccer with one boy.

On our way back from seeing the shacks in another township, we were stopped at a light and a car several car lengths behind us was attacked by a gang of men. They broke out the back window and took off running. Several other drivers jumped out of their cars and started chasing them. Sugar explained that the gangs do this to steal goods being transported and that the men would not be from Langa but another township. The people of Langa do not tolerate thieves - they are tired of the crime and of waiting on the police, so they take matters into their own hands and if they catch the thieves, they are beaten either to death or severely injured.

After our trip to the townships, we visited the Castle of Good Hope. Built in 1666 by the Dutch East India Company, it is more like a fort than a castle. The Dutch originally settled in South Africa to serve as a replenishment station for ships on their way back to Europe from Asia. The fort served as protection for the workers of the Dutch East India Company settled there.

We spent the afternoon at the Two Oceans Aquarium seeing plants, fish, sharks, and penguins from the seas around South Africa. Charlotte got to pet a starfish and James saw two types of penguins (which is probably he second favorite animal, next to pandas). Our guide Laura dropped us off at our apartment after the aquarium and we headed out to the Victoria & Alfred waterfront for a little shopping (Madeleine's favorite thing) before dinner. It has been a very full day and the kids are definitely tired. The day was very cold and rainy and the wind picked up substantially after dinner. We are right on the harbor and I am very glad we are not on a sailboat right now - with Brannon that is always a possibility! Due to the bad weather, I believe the shark excursion we had originally planned for tomorrow is being postponed until Sunday. Instead, we will head to the wine country.